What Brought them Together
by Lefyty
Summary: We all know the story of the Avengers, of how they came together to defeat the threat posed by the Chitauri and Loki, when we needed them most. But, the story seems to leave out a detail, specifically one of something mentioned only in SHEILD's database as Subject E. Each character recounts their memories of events prior to and during the Battle of Manhattan. Rated for violence.
1. What Lies Behind Door 14-D

**Hey all, Lefyty here. Just some explanatory things to start. If you ignored the summary, which I doubt you did, this starts in the original avengers movie, not Age of Ultron, and this will contain no spoilers from the new Civil War movie, so no worries there. I'll stop dilly dallying now, but just to be careful, I own nothing but one character that you'll see later. If it seems Marvel-y you can be safe to assume that Marvel owns it, not me.**

The video started, focusing on a chair that was empty, turned to the right. All in one moment, a man with dark chocolate brown hair wearing a black tee shirt threw himself into the chair. "I thought we were done with Avengers stuff," the man complained, looking somewhere off camera.

"Fury wants everyone to do this. Once this is done the Avengers are over. Just do this so he will get off of my back, please," A woman said from off camera. The man in the chair sighed, his whole body sagging with the noise.

"This doesn't even make any sense. I'm not even sure this technology will work – it's never been tested, and I didn't make it. It's probably a dud," the man protested, frowning at the device he held in his hand.

"What did you say to me once before, sir?" a British man, also off camera asked, "'Sometimes you have to learn to run before you can walk?'" the person quoted.

"You're paraphrasing," the brown haired man in the seat declared, but turned to face the camera all the same. His brown eyes were stunning, and his entire face had small cuts and bruises all over it. Light shone through his _Black Sabbath_ tee shirt. He gave the camera a look before he frowned at it. "Great, it's already recording."

He sighed, "My name is Tony Stark also known as Iron Man, I was involved in…"he stopped, looking behind him, pushing the chair away from the desk, "this is really stupid, Bruce is waiting for me in the lab –"

"Oh no," the woman walked into frame and pushed Tony's chair back towards the camera, "You're here now, and Fury said it would only take a few minutes. Do it," she insisted, brushing her fiery red hair out of her face.

Tony grumbled, but looked back into the camera. "Fine. The Avengers Initiative was created by the pirate, and was originally made to have seven members, myself, the Capiscle, Doctor Banner, Thor'eal, Legolas, and Natashalie – _ow_!" Tony grunted as Pepper smacked the back of his head, "Fine, Doctor Banner, Captain America, Thor Odinson, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow, happy?" He asked, swiveling to look at the woman behind him.

"Not yet," the woman persisted, nodding her head to the camera. Tony swiveled back to look at the camera, eyebrows furrowed accompanied by a pout.

"We were assembled to protect the Earth, yadda yadda yadda. Then a new person joined our ranks, and without her there is no way Loki - Reindeer Games – whatever you want to call him - and his army would have been defeated. Some of us were asked to record our memories into this device," he held up a small black, sleek looking box, "for reference purposes. I don't know, maybe there will be some sort of documentary made on us. All I know is if this box zaps me, I might sprout green eyes and start throwing balls of fire."

The woman behind him slapped the back of his head again. "Help I'm being abused by my sexy CEO slash girlfriend!" Tony shouted to seemingly no one.

"So I'm your girlfriend now?" The woman asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the man. She fought to hide a smile that was growing at her lips.

Tony swiveled around to look at her, "Yes," he said sincerely.

The woman grinned at him before leaning over to press her lips to his forehead, "Finish that up and meet Bruce in the lab," she ordered before walking away, sashaying her hips as she walked to an elevator.

Tony turned back to the camera, waggling his eyebrows. He then attached two electrodes that came from the box to his temples and looked straight into the camera. "Establishing connection," he announced, looking both bored and annoyed by the process.

Tony pressed a small button on the top of the device. The box lit up bright white, and the screen went blank, then there was static, like the CPU was picking up some sort of interference.

҉҉҉

 **Connection Established**

 **Subject: Tony Stark**

 **Memory: Located in the Helicarrier during the Avengers Initiative. Memory begins in Lab while Stark's hacking bug broke into SHIELD's files. He finds Subject E and breaks E out before it is ready. The Memory is of what follows.**

Well that certainly was a failed attempt at making us act friendly. Bruce and I stood in the lab, silence had fallen between us, although it was more companionable than awkward. Bruce was working on locating the tesseract, keeping his eyes on the locating screens. It seemed as though he didn't know what to make of me, which was probably about par for the course considering I just tried to shock him to see if I could make the Jolly Green Giant come out. If anything his reaction was more interesting than concerning. His eyes hadn't flashed green as I had expected, which meant something fascinating. Banner can control his powers – to a degree at least. I highly doubt a man of Banner's… temperament would actually want to go out and destroy Manhattan, so he might not have control over it all the time… interesting. I'll have to pay more attention to that in the future.

I stared at the door, where Cap had stormed out only moments before. He was another interesting part of our group. Was he meant to be the leader? It made enough sense, I guess, even if I don't like it. How they thought it was a good idea for the two of us to be in the same room is beyond my comprehension. As far as I am concerned it's his fault my father didn't give a damn about me. But how could a man out of time lead all of us, especially when I can't stand to be in the same room as him. He's lucky I haven't gotten my suit on and attacked him yet.

I took a deep breath, and in the same moment my Stark phone beeped. Bruce looked up from his work, but I ignored him and pulled the sleek phone from my front pocket. It was a message from Jarvis.

 **Sir, I found something… interesting. This was the least protected of SHEILD's files, so I managed to break into this one before the others. The file says there is something labeled 'Subject E' in room 14 – D on one of the lower levels. The file is very cryptic and doesn't state much. There is something that is labeled "extremely unstable, and highly dangerous," stored in the room, however it doesn't go on to say what is** ** _in_** **the room. There are video cameras located in the room, but none of them are on a wifi connection, it is a closed circuit, and therefore I cannot break into it without a connection, or until I break into the whole system, which will take time. However I have managed to find on certain SHEILD agents comm. emails who have referenced Subject E say that it has been relocated multiple times. I suggest proceeding with caution.**

I frowned at the message and re-read it. What would SHEILD be hiding that is highly dangerous that needed to be relocated multiple times?

"What did you find?" Bruce asked, approaching me with a look of curiosity.

I relayed the information to him as quickly as possible. Highly unstable and extremely dangerous sounded just like the thing I wanted to find in SHEILD's files.

"Maybe you should just wait until you get into the main base of SHEILD, Tony. This sounds a bit much, even for you," Bruce suggested cautiously.

I rolled my eyes, "No! Now is when we need to go look! You're telling me you don't want to go sniff this out at all?" I asked him incredulously. Does he have no sense of adventure? He's a scientist! He should want to figure out what this means.

Bruce shook his head with a small apologetic smile, "I'm sorry Tony, but 'dangerous' and 'unstable' sounds like a recipe for disaster for me."

I shook my head in disappointment, "You've got a cap on that Doc, you deserve some fun."

I turned to walk out of the lab, still determined to find out what exactly 'Subject E' was. "Sorry Tony," Bruce said as I opened the door, "but that just doesn't sound like 'fun' to me, unless you want the whole helicarrier to be torn apart."

"Now there's an idea," I said as the door shut behind me.

What could SHEILD possibly be trying to hide? The word could start with 'E', but there aren't very many words that start with 'E' that make sense. Unless it was a person – but that's absurd. SHEILD had to be above kidnapping. My aunt Peggy would never work for an organization that kidnaps at the very least. I had more trust in them than that. As I walked to the stairs I passed Natasha, who seemed to be loitering in the hall. Making sure I'm staying where I'm supposed to be, more like it.

"Hi agent," I said brightly as I continued my walk towards room 14 – D. I needed to say something. If I walked by her without acknowledging her it would look suspicious and she would start to wonder about things. She is a spy after all.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at me. Damn it. "Where are you going, Stark?" She asked, crossing her arms and cocking a hip. Damn it again.

"Bathroom," I said quickly, raising an eyebrow, "I felt an urge," I offered by way of explanation.

Natasha scowled at me, and studied every inch of me, probably waiting for me to crack, but I only gave her a goofy 'I really have to pee' look. "Bathroom's that way," Natasha said begrudgingly and gestured towards a hallway that was thankfully in the same direction as the stairwell.

"Great," I said to her, continuing on my quest to the room on the D level, which was right underneath the one I was on.

Once I turned the corner I saw the door to the stairwell. With one look to ensure no one was following me, I raced down the stairs, pushing away the breathless feeling I had in my chest due to the arc reactor. After they removed things in my chest cavity and squished my lungs it left me having difficulty breathing, but I would never admit it. Doctors were amazed I was even alive with that much metal disrupting my chest cavity. I was too, at first, I just try not to think about it now. Better not to focus on the then and just pay attention to the now.

I flung open the door to the D level, checking behind me to make sure Natasha hadn't followed me. I jogged down the hallway, checking around the hall to make sure no SHEILD agents were around, and surprisingly, there were none. _Shitty security_ I thought to myself, humming the song _Shoot to Thrill_ under my breath. It both calmed me down and made me feel like I was in some sort of awesome action movie. When I made it to the door I stopped. "What could SHIELD be hiding in their room and board area?" I asked aloud, staring at the door. This part of the carrier was meant to have extra rooms, for prisoners or civilians, take your pick. Either way, I was beginning to think that SHIELD might just be hiding a person after all.

I walked to the door and pulled the knob. It twisted, but it wouldn't budge. _Locked. Should have figured that one_. Nothing on this carrier could ever be easy. I peered into the crack between the door, and saw there were three bolts, and from the looks of it, they were coming from the wall not the door itself. An unmarked code panel confirmed my theory. _The lock is wired. Dumbasses._

I got to work on the code panel, removing the wall panel around it quickly. After a few wires were cut with a pair of wire cutters from my back pocket and hotwired together with a pen sized blow torch I checked the door again and smirked when I saw the locks had slid back into the wall. _Too easy_. I didn't even hesitate when I pulled the door open. I didn't even have a second to process what was in the room, because I was pulled into the room by some force, and slammed against the wall. The door swung and shut with a bang. I swore colorfully.

A young girl with light blonde hair and bright green eyes standing in the center of the room glared at me, both of her hands were raised in the air and pointed at me. Was she holding me against the wall or was something else going on?

"What the hell!" I shouted, more of an accusation than a question. Who in the hell was this girl, and how the hell was she holding me against the wall without touching me?

"Who the _fuck_ are you?" The girl shouted.

"Who the fuck am _I_ , who the fuck are _you?_ " I shouted back almost as angrily as the girl had shouted at me. I mean seriously? Who does this girl think she is?

I flew from my spot on the wall and slammed on the ground. I grunted in pain, almost certain my back had popped in three areas. The blonde put her knee on my chest – just below the arc reactor – and put her face directly above my head. Her face was deathly pale and there were smears of dirt all over her face along with small red lines – cuts – all along her cheeks. What happened to her?

"Why am I stuck on this fucking flying ship," the girl shouted, spittle flying in my face. Even though she was lashing out it was easy to see how terrified the girl was. Her pupils were dilated and her lips were drawn back, baring her teeth as if she was some sort of wolf. Her teeth were perfect, small, even, and white, which was surprising. Given the condition she was in I was expecting yellow teeth, maybe even a few missing.

I tried to raise my arms to show my innocence, but I couldn't move, "I don't know," I stated. She gave me a skeptical look, "no honestly. I was brought on the helicarrier a few hours ago. I probably trust SHEILD as much as you do."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Wanna bet?" she asked. "Who is SHEILD?" She added almost as an afterthought.

Both my back and my chest ached from the girl throwing me around, but it was relieving that the girl wasn't accusing me anymore. I could handle this. "An agency meant to protect the world's security – though if their track record is anything to go by, I don't think they're doing such a great job."

I watched the girl's intense eyes studying me – trying to determine if what I said was true. "So why am I here?" She finally asked. She seemed to trust me more, even though she didn't let me go or move in any way. But her tone had changed from menacing to indifferent, which made all the difference. Electricity crackled in the air almost adding to the tension. The girl flinched.

"I honestly have no idea. I didn't even know you were a person, I went snooping. But now," I said decisively, "if you let me up, we're going to find out."

"Hell no am I going to let you up," the girl argued, electricity crackled through the air again, this time it seemed threatening. What the hell is going on? "You are my ticket out of here, I'm not going to just _let_ you up."

"But that's exactly why you should let me up," I argued, struggling to push the girl off of me, but I still couldn't move. _What. The. Hell._ "I'm your ticket out of here, and I am what's going to keep you safe – especially because I want to help you and figure out what the hell is going on. SHEILD isn't going to be too happy when they found out their kidnapee is running around by herself, and they will not risk the integrity of their ship. It is worth more than you – unfortunately. That's where I step in. I am worth much more money than their ship, and I'm also very important to a few things running in here at the moment, so while they might risk you, they won't risk me. And what in the hell is this? Some kind of voodoo shit?" I yelled out of frustration. I couldn't move one damn muscle in my own body, and she was the only one who could possibly be doing any of it.

"So why don't I just take you as my hostage?" The girl finally asked. Her knee pressed harder into my chest and I wanted to cry out, but I only bit my lip.

"Because for one I know my way around the ship, so if you lead us around you'll eventually run into Captain America, a god, a spy who fights like a god, or dozens of agents with guns, or any combination of those options for that matter. And I'm a much better ally than an enemy, I am –"

"I know who you are," the girl said flippantly, rising to her feet, turning from me, and tossing a hand over her shoulder towards me in one fluid motion. The sleeve of her navy blue sweater moved just enough for something around her wrist to catch my eye. A grey and red Stark Industries bracelet.

"What is that?" I stood quickly and snatched her wrist, pulling her back towards me to get a better look at the bracelet. She cupped her hand, pulling away from me, and in the middle of her hand a ball of fire burst into life. I yelled in surprise, stumbling backwards and eventually falling on my ass. People's hands don't just catch on fire. What the fuck is going on?

"That is _mine_ ," the girl protested, turning to face me. Her hand went out as quickly as it lit. She put both palms on her waist and cocked a hip.

"My name on it," I retorted from my seat on the ground, ignoring the fact that her hand caught on fire. Probably not the best course of action, but she wasn't exactly pointing the fire at me.

"One of the many gifts given in the peace offering extended to the mutant fund. So it's mine," the blonde turned on her heel and strode toward the door.

"So you're a mutant?" I questioned.

"That's what they say."

"And what do you say?"

"They are wrong."

 **As you may have guessed the 'sleek black box' will be here to stay. Each chapter will be uploaded with an entry from a character who encounters the sleek black box, as you may guess characters will be repeated. As for Emily, she's a tough little emotional cookie who I will enjoy to reveal to you all as time goes on. Now for logistics of things, expect a chapter a week, you may get more or less depending on how scheduling works, but that should be about how things will be paced. I may update another chapter within the next few days just to get the ball rolling, but otherwise that will be the standard pace. Expect longer chapters too, I just liked the quick pace of this update. That being said, if you see any glaring grammatical flaws, or any flaws at all, feel free to point them out, I just ask that we don't be downright mean about those things, and also, please feel free to leave a review if you feel I deserve it, these things really make a writer feel good. I won't stall for too long though, I'll see you next time.**


	2. No One Even Says Hack Anymore

**Guess what, I'm back early! Yeah yeah, I said I would be back in a week and I update the next day. Don't expect that too often, I just want to get things moving. I own one character, if anything seems Marvel-y know that that is Marvel's property, not mine.**

The camera started to record, auto focusing on a young girl seated in a chair facing the camera. She had her light blonde hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. Her pale complexion betrayed a miniscule amount of acne on her forehead, normal in most teenagers, and her light skin complimented her light green eyes. She had a straight nose with pouty lips, she wore a form fitting black scoop neck shirt, showing off her collarbones and slim, well muscled figure. She looked as though she had been in a bad food situation at one point, but was on the road to a healthier life.

"My name is Emily Doe. I was asked by Director Fury," her lips pursed slightly, "to document my memories of the Avengers Initiative and the Battle of Manhattan, as most are starting to call it. I'm not entirely sure how this works, or why we are even doing this, but this," she held a small, sleek box up for the camera and then set it back down in front of her, "is supposed to record my memories. I didn't join the Avengers like most of my team members did. I was forced, but after the fact, I can say I am glad to have met the people I did. I have a family now. I have sisters and brothers, and even a person the closest to a father figure I might ever have. The Avengers are a lot of things to a lot of people, but for me, they are family. And even though we might have had rough beginnings, I think we can finally find some peace after this."

"Tell us what the Avengers did," a deep voiced person said from behind the camera. Emily looked annoyed.

"Everyone knows what we did," Emily snapped, "we saved the world from Loki and his aliens, who were planning on enslaving the Earth. We nuked them."

Emily removed the back of the box and started to attach electrodes to herself, "we ensured the world was safe when no one else could."

"Establishing connection."

҉҉҉

 **Connection: Established**

 **Subject: Emily Doe**

 **Memory: Located on the Helicarrier. Emily travels with Tony Stark to the lab where they are confronted by Nick Fury.**

"What do you mean they're wrong? How are they wrong?" Tony asked from behind me. I used my telekinesis to open the door, and turned back to look at the man.

"I'm not a mutant," I replied in a 'duh' kind of voice. I turned back and started to walk down the hall. I heard Tony jog to catch up to me and smirked. I knew that's not what he meant, but it did buy me time to think of a different way I got my powers. The story behind my powers was too painful to think about, let alone explain to a stranger.

"I kind of got that myself funnily enough – turn here," he ordered, pointing to the stairwell to my left. He pushed the door open and held it for me.

"What a gentleman," I said sarcastically, walking through the door and taking a jogging start at the stairs. I still wasn't too trusting of Tony. Even though he gave charity to a fund that I belonged to, and saved me – I guess – that didn't mean I didn't suspect him of being involved in my kidnapping. He'd have to prove himself to me. After all, this could just be one big play by SHEILD to gain my trust, though the way Tony has been acting the past year or so it wouldn't exactly match up.

"A gentleman who asked a question," Tony pressed. I rolled my eyes.

"An impatient gentleman as well," I added. He barked out an impatient sounding laugh. "If I answer your question can you tell me how you became Iron Man?"

Tony had caught up to me. At the mention of how he acquired his suit the man paled. He swallowed hard. "Fine," he accepted defeat, "how about your name, then?"

"Emily Doe, and I already know your name," I said, and tried to think of a good question I could counter with, "what are you even on this ship for?" His reason for being on the ship might give me a clue as to why I'm on the ship too. There is no way that this could be my dad's work anymore. He didn't do any business with Stark Industries, which is why I accepted the aid given to the Mutant Fund. I knew there wouldn't be any way he could track me. I wasn't one to mooch off of government funding, but when even dumpster diving gave you few options in the ways of food, you sunk to low levels. The protein bars provided by the Mutant Fund may not have been very good, but they were food, and food was good. Still is good, come to think of it. I don't remember the last time SHEILD fed me.

Tony took a few steps ahead of me and peeked out of the door on the landing. I waited for him, and after a few seconds he held the door open for me. "All clear," he announced. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Spies and agents," he reminded. "And I'm not sure you would believe me if I told you, because I'm still working on believing myself," he added.

"Try me," I ordered. After what I went through anything seemed to go.

He turned, a grim, but strangely wry expression on his face, "Ever heard of Thor Odinson and Loki?" Tony asked. I frowned.

"The Norse gods?" I asked, confused.

"Sorta look like they belong in a Shakespeare play?" Tony asked. I nodded. "Well they're real." I snorted. "Seriously," he insisted. Except for that. Anything goes except for that.

"Sure they're real," I stated, just to appease him, "what do they have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Well," Tony said with a sigh, moving to a door and holding it open for me, "Bruce Emily, Emily Bruce," Tony said as I stepped into an extremely high tech room. Monitors lined the tables as well as various instruments – a scientist's wet dream. A tall, slightly chubby man stood leaned against a table in front of a window. He wore brown pants, a purple dress shirt, and black rimmed glasses. He had dark curly hair, and a kind, though quizzical expression on his face.

"Is this…" his voice trailed off and he cast Tony a look, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes," Tony answered from behind me. I frowned. "Am I what?"

In response Tony tossed something at me, a tablet, by the looks of it. I caught it, my heart racing. How could he just _throw_ such expensive equipment? I read through the message. "Who is Jarvis?" I asked with a frown. So Tony really _did_ have nothing to do with my kidnapping. Well that's a relief at least.

"Artificial intelligence, Just A Rather Very Intelligent System," Tony explained.

"So not quite artificial intelligence," I commented.

Tony gave me a strange look, "no. Not quite."

"Emily, why would SHEILD take interest in you?" Bruce interrupted. Darn, the guy sure knew how to cut to the chase. The man kept his arms folded against his chest, not as if he were cold, but as if he were trying to hide a part of himself. Interesting. I'll save that for later.

I raised an eyebrow, "the same could be asked of you," I retorted defensively. Seriously, a group of people are _asked_ to go with this organization and all they are interested in is someone who was taken by force. On second thought, probably a good reason for that.

"I am an expert in Gamma Radiation," Bruce said with a tone that said, 'now your turn'.

"He also has a tendency to grow and become green when angered," Tony chimed in. I frowned.

"Tony…" I said in exasperation.

"No really."

"You're the Hulk?" I asked. I had been in New York when a certain Jolly Green Giant destroyed Harlem. Let's say I was less than thrilled to be in the same room with it, although the man in front of me looked nothing like a gigantic green rage monster. Either a lab rat like me, or a mutant, then. Still, I wondered how he became to be so… volatile. He didn't seem quite as dangerous now.

Bruce looked uncomfortable and raked his fingers through his hair, "I prefer 'the other guy', and so does… he…"

Instead of explaining I coughed, fire blew out of my mouth, maybe it would make the man more comfortable, after all, he wasn't the only freak in the room. Bruce started and leapt back, gasping in shock. It was a small party trick I learned long ago. It also didn't help that when I got sick, that was how I coughed naturally. Some things couldn't be helped, and unfortunately, one of them was coughing balls of fire, it is just lucky that the same rules don't apply for all bodily functions.

"And Emily is a dragon. I loved you in Game of Thrones, by the way," he teased, waggling his eyebrows. I cast him a glare. Never serious, that one.

"I think the proper term is environmentalist."

"Whatever you say, Puff."

"How did that," Bruce cut in, gesturing to my mouth, "happen?"

I raised an eyebrow at the doctor. He was taking this all in rather well, though if Tony's claim held any truth that might be the reason. But that was impossible. The Norse gods didn't _actually_ exist. There had to be some other explanation.

"Similar to the circumstances under which Tony built his suit, I guess," I answered. I wasn't lying, although I was imprisoned under different circumstances, and for much longer.

Tony stopped typing on one of the monitors and turned towards me, "But you didn't build your powers," he insisted.

"Nope," I replied, crossing my own arms, as if the action might prevent him from prying. Anything to protect myself from my past.

"So then how – "

The door to the lab was flung open with a bang. I jumped, and electricity crackled through the air. My hands heated, but didn't light on fire. "And what in the hell is this?" A man in a black trench coat and an eye patch stepped in. His bald head reflected the light from the overhead fixtures. His eyes were fixed on me, glaring. I scowled back at the man. He simply radiated power and authority, two things I didn't typically agree with.

"I could ask the same question," Tony retorted, walking to stand between me and the old, angry man. Bruce did the same, so I couldn't see him anymore. It's as if they were trying to create a barrier between me and him. I blinked and stared at Tony's back. No one ever stood up for me, let alone do this.

"It _looks_ to me like you broke into my personal files and retrieved Emily here from her room," the man stated angrily. Oh yes, my room. As if I was asked politely to stay. My prison, more like it.

"And it _looks_ to me like SHEILD kidnapped a kid," Bruce retorted.

"Easy there big guy," the man said, "you have no idea what this girl is capable of."

"Regardless she's - what? Fifteen?" Tony argued.

"She had to be removed from the streets, she was beginning to become too dangerous."

"Removing someone who threatened to kill thousands of people by brainwash is dangerous to you?" I asked angrily. Because that's the reason one of his government lackeys told me. I stopped Nana, and that's what mattered. She was gone, and the world was much safer because of it.

"It _is_ when you can't be brainwashed," the man retorted.

I flinched. He was wrong. I _could_ be brain washed, just not in the way he thought. "So what, are you planning on brainwashing the entire world? Because that's what its beginning to look like," Tony accused. He didn't even hesitate to defend me. I blinked rapidly, biting my lip to attempt to keep my tears from falling. Only one person has ever done that before.

"Her powers are unstable," the man explained impatiently, as if he realized how outnumbered he was at the moment, "we couldn't leave her out in the world when she can't control her powers. She was going to end up hurting someone. "

"Smells fishy to me, Fury."

The man grumbled, his hands on his hips. "Just get to your work, and if I get the slightest hint that you are messing with my files again – "

"You're going to – what? Throw me out an airlock? This isn't Star Trek," Tony retorted.

"Just find the cube, and make sure Miss Doe here doesn't burn down the ship," Fury said over his shoulder as he left.

"It isn't fire you have to worry about," I mumbled so no one could hear me but myself. I've had control over my pyro and telekinetic abilities for a few years ago. The other one? Not so much… "Who was that?" I asked finally. They called him 'Fury', but I couldn't tell if that was his real name, or just a pet name given by Tony. After what he has shown me in the span of about a half an hour, it could go either way.

"That's Director Nick Fury, leader of SHEILD," Bruce offered. I inclined my head to show I understood. There was a reason I didn't like him, then. He was the reason behind my imprisonment. God, if Fury's bite was anything like his bark, he could be very dangerous.

"He's going to be pissed when my system finds all of his dirty little secrets," Tony mumbled once the door shut.

"You're hacking SHIELD?" I asked, incredulous. I'd been with Tony for ten minutes and it appeared he already had a death wish. Even I didn't like Fury, which was evident that Tony agreed, given their last conversation, but crossing him within hours of boarding the ship – if what Tony said was true – seemed… well, suicidal, to say the least. Tony must have a good foothold in the operation going on if he felt that comfortable in directly disobeying Fury's order. The guy had nerve, I'll give him that.

Tony turned to face me, a small frown on his face, "No one even says 'hack' anymore," he stated. He crossed the room and started typing almost manically. "There, it should be done in almost two hours." Why was he hacking SHEILD. If Tony was suspicious of them, I certainly was, but somehow, it felt odd to ask, so instead I asked another question. I would find out in due time.

"So what do we do now?" I asked. Bruce had already taken a seat on the edge of the center table. I followed his lead.

Tony turned to face us both, "blueberry?" he asked, holding out a small bag. I nodded, suddenly aware of how hungry I was. I took the bag and emptied the entire thing in my mouth. Both men gave me looks of varying surprise.

"Sorry," I mumbled sheepishly, "I haven't had much to eat in the past few days."

"How long have you been in there?"

"A week? Maybe more," I shrugged, it definitely felt like an eternity.

The door opened again, this time in a much calmer manner. I started, and electricity crackled in the air. My stomach dropped. _The last thing I want to do is electrocute Doctor Banner on accident._ A man wearing a dark suit stepped into the room, he had bland brown colored hair, and a smile on his face, but I knew just what the man was capable of. "Agent Coulson," I greeted icily. He might just be the worst of them all.

"Emily," he acknowledged, but unlike me, he did it with indifference. Now that he didn't have the upper hand he didn't seem quite as confident.

"Now how do you know him?" Tony asked.

"He was the one who captured me. He cornered me in Central Park and I got shot in the neck by a dart. They drugged me." I couldn't keep the bite out of my tone. Coulson was the one who took all of my freedom away and put me into this hellhole. I couldn't help but feel angry, even if I did want to stop aggravating my already temperamental electrical powers.

"To be fair you did electrocute me," Coulson retorted without missing a beat, though he didn't seem too angry about it.

"It was an _accident_ ," I roared, exploding to my feet and pushing past him to rush out of the room and down the halls. As I ran, my chest started to constrict until my breaths came in short gasps, the wave of nausea fought to overtake me. I wasn't going in any particular direction, just away from the lab. No one knew better than me how terrible my electricity powers were. I hated them, _oh_ I _hated_ them. They were a constant, painful reminder of my past, and one I could never get rid of. It was the one power I had no control over, and that made me all the more afraid of it. It just came out at random times and often hurt the few people I cared about. _I hated my electric powers._ And with my heightened emotions, I had to get away, I couldn't risk shocking anyone, especially Doctor Banner.

I stopped my run from the room, confused. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I just knew that I _needed_ to get away. Once I had found a dark corner, I sat down and cried.

It was probably twenty minutes later when I heard someone sit down next to me. I wiped my eyes, and was startled for a moment when I saw it was the doctor who followed me. I half expected Tony to come, but this was probably a better outcome. The doctor was far less volatile than Tony, and I probably cried myself out of my anger, which meant electricity was ruled out, for the most part. I still have to be careful, I always have to be careful.

"I didn't mean to electrocute him," I mumbled after the silence stretched for too long I owed Bruce some kind of explanation and that seemed like the best place to start.

"Huh?" Bruce questioned, caught off guard that I had spoken. I slowly let my tense muscles relax, and started focusing on calming breathing. The less high strung I am the better.

I took a deep breath. "Coulson - I didn't mean to electrocute him. It was an accident. I can't really control my electrical abilities," I shuddered, "like I can my others."

"Is there a reason for that?" Bruce asked.

I took a deep breath and nodded."Yeah. Let's just say my dad wasn't a very nice guy – he gave me these powers. Well, gave isn't really the right word for what he did. Forced them on me? Yeah, that sounds better." What other way would you describe being stabbed with a syringe full of serum without your consent? "Well, anyway, his job wasn't really working out for him, he was working on a modified super soldier serum," Bruce snorted, "and he was risking being defunded, so he tested it on me. I used the powers to escape, but let's just say the electrical side hits a little too close to home for me. I'm afraid of them," I admitted. It was the truth, every time I felt the electrical current run over my skin it made my skin crawl.

Bruce nodded, "I know how that feels." I raised my eyebrows at him. "Your father wasn't the first to try and imitate the super soldier serum," Bruce explained, "that's why I… change … when I get angry."

I nodded, "we're not that different after all, Doc," I grinned.

Bruce shook his head with a grin. "How about we find you a room you can stay in so you can get a shower and a change of clothes. Then we can get something to eat and be back in time to see what Tony found from Shield's stuff." God he seriously was like Jekyll and Hyde. Bruce was kind and gentle, meanwhile his other self, the Hulk was destructive. But that wasn't his fault. Bruce can't control the other guy as much as I can't control my electrical powers, and he didn't deserve to be judged for that. Still, it was impossible to picture Bruce's kind brown eyes even remotely furious or green. The good doctor didn't seem like he had a mean bone in his body.

"Are you saying I smell?" I asked, more to push his buttons than out of actual anger. I did smell, I hadn't showered in days and I kept pretty busy in the room Fury locked me in over the course of the days. Still, Bruce's reaction was enough to make my question worth it.

Bruce blanched and immediately started backtracking, "No of course not – I just thought – "

"Just kidding with you Doc," I leapt to my feet and helped the good doctor to his feet. He is easy to get riled up, this could be fun in the future at least. "Sounds like a better plan than I had," I agreed.

"What plan was that?"

"Jumping out of the airlock to see if I can fly," I shrugged.

 **Alright guys, now we know our little Emily a tad bit better, poor thing, being cooped up in a room by herself for so long. I want to point out a few things at first. This was originally going to be a Tony and Emily bonding chapter, and then Bruce came along and stole the show. I just feel like they have such a special dynamic, and I wanted to show this earlier rather than later, because they have so much in common, which I hoped I showed here. There are still some things I'd like to poke at here, but I'm done messing with it. Also, every single person I think I have ever seen has loved Coulson, so I really wanted to make a character that despised him. Judge me. I love Coulson as a character, but I feel just because I do, my characters shouldn't have to. As always, if you see any glaring grammatical errors feel free to let me know. Also, reviews are welcomed, but not required, they sure do make a writer feel good. Thats all I have for you guys, I hope to see you next week.**

 **Lefyty out.**


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